Monday, January 05, 2009

Managing the Press: The O's Method

Roeser digs out an interesting item while interviewing Lynn Sweet, a journalist and Democrat activist/player from Chicago.

Yesterday Marin revealed [Chicago Tribune] that in Obama’s news conferences in this city, many reporters don’t ask questions-because the procedure has been for the Obama-ites to cherry pick the questioners…and a list is picked early of the reporters who will be allowed to ask the Messiah questions. Marin indicated that increasingly there is too much reportorial deferentiality. Sweet denied this, saying that’s the way it always is. Oh really? Doesn’t this come close to management of the news? Since the Obama people know who’ll ask the questions, isn’t it a short jump to assume they know what the questions will be…so as to prepare the Great Swami for the correct answers? The stonewalling by Sweet was surprising because she has been in the forefront of pushing the Obama people to be more transparent.

As always, Roeser is worth the read.

3 comments:

  1. I hope your not complaining. It sounds like he took a page out of Bush's playbook, and you didn't complain when he did it.

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